Andrew Garfield is opening up about the grief of losing his mother, Lynn, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in late 2019.
While making an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his new film Tick, Tick…Boom!, the actor admitted that he was able to connect to his character Jonathan Larson’s life by thinking of his mother. After he quickly got choked up, he explained why he is grateful to still be emotional over the loss, saying:
“It’s only a beautiful thing. It’s all the unexpressed love; the grief that will remain with us. We never get enough time with each other, no matter if someone lives till 60, 15 or 99. I hope this grief stays with me because it’s the unexpressed love that I didn’t get to tell her. So for me, I was able to step into this in a way where I could honor this incredible life of Jonathan Larson.”
Larson was the playwright who created Rent, but sadly died at age 35, the night before the groundbreaking musical’s first performance.
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Tick, Tick…Boom! follows the artist as he attempts to make a name for himself on Broadway. Reflecting on the film, the 38-year-old continued:
“And this film is kind of to do with that, to do with this ticking clock that we all have. That we all know somewhere deep down that life is sacred, life is short, and we better just be here as much as possible, with each other, holding on to each other. And for me, I got to sing Jonathan Larson’s unfinished song while simultaneously singing for my mother and her unfinished song.”
Hear his full explanation about grief and the importance of art in healing (below):
Such well-spoken tribute to what this movie and his mother mean to him.
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As Perezcious readers may know, the Spider-Man alum’s mother was diagnosed with cancer just before he was headed to North Carolina to film The Eyes of Tammy Faye in 2019. He hesitated to leave her side, but she insisted he go. Andrew told Variety he asked one thing, recalling he said:
“OK, but promise me when it’s time to come home you’ll let me know.”
He eventually made that sad trek back to England to be by Lynn’s side in her final days, expressing:
“The good news about me and her is that we left nothing unsaid. We had all the quality time we could possibly have while she was here. And those last two weeks I got to be with her were probably the most profound two weeks of my life. To be with her and my dad and my brother, all of her friends, my nephews. It was full of grace in the midst of the terrible tragedy.”
Whoa… It’s so nice to know that creating this film allowed Andrew to “honor” his mother. It brings a whole new meaning to the story!
[Image via The Late Show With Stephen Colbert/Netflix/YouTube]
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